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You may believe the golden age of spycraft passed with the end of the Cold War, or maybe even with Mata Hari's firing squad. But, what's old is gold again, and the game has never been more fully engaged.

Whether fighting commies, evil-doers, drugs dealers, or pernicious foreign ideology we always seem to be at war with something! In fact, we're reminded of the fact so frequently, it's beginning to make me think the war going on isn't "out there" at all, but instead is raging inside our heads, making a virtual battlefield of our collective perceptions.

And; Donald Trump didn't disappoint at the UN this week. In an address that still has halls of power around the globe buzzing, the American president used the global bully pulpit to threaten fellow member-nation North Korea with utter destruction. A lapse of diplomatic etiquette and refutation of the Charter of the United Nations' founding purpose of promoting peace among nations to be sure, but what Mr. Trump, and most of those listening to his sabre-rattling are not aware of is; the United States "totally destroyed North Korea" once before. It's a salient fact not lost on the "depraved regime" being threatened again, and something the White House might consider when gauging just how Kim "Rocket Man" Jong Un may react.

Tim Shorrock is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist, and author of the book, ‘Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing.’ His articles appear at his website, TimShorrock.com and at The Nation. Tim grew up in Asia, and spent much of the 1980’s in Japan, reporting on the financial intrigues of the then-biggest of the Asian Tiger economies.

Tim Shorrock and taking the measure of the Trump administration's bombast from an Eastern perspective in the second half.

And; Victoria activist and CFUV Radio broadcaster at-large, Janine Bandcroft will be here with the Left Coast Events Newsletter bulletin at the bottom of the hour. But first, Tom Secker and the clandestine war being fought between your ears.